Which America Will We Serve Our Children Next Week?
I highly recommend the ‘BLUE VOTE SPECIAL’
“How dare you tell me how to vote! I don’t need anyone shoving their uninvited opinions down my throat,” she email-screamed as she unsubscribed from my blog. A blog to which she’d willingly subscribed earlier, fully aware that I never hesitated to express my opinions on a whole host of often controversial topics. Apparently this was a bridge too far.
Though I didn’t, in fact, tell her how to vote. I simply suggested that keeping our American democracy intact, and preserving the rights and freedoms of millions of Americans in the many and various marginalized categories (including women like her) was better served by voting for, at that time, Joe Biden. Now I’d repeat the suggestion and, of course, say “Kamala Harris.” And though this woman will not be reading my current opinion — because she’s, well, unsubscribed — odds are good, given the spittle-faced hysteria of her email, she’d reject my recommendation anyway.
But I kinda hate to lose her. We need to reach people who don’t agree with everything we say or think, because, frankly, we’re mostly preaching to the choir. The people who subscribe to us, follow us on social media, stay in touch in the myriad ways people stay in touch, do so because they like what we’re staying, they agree with our viewpoints, they share our convictions and opinions. Which is great; it’s nice to intelligently interact with smart, informed, sane, logical people. I enjoy the camaraderie and that satisfying hit of likemindedness. I don’t mind spirited debate, but naysayers and trolls can be exhausting (see “May God Have Mercy on Your Soul”).
The choir, though, doesn’t need our suggestions, does it? They’re already singing in pitch. Whatever I write here today will, likely, align with most who read it. Though, given my linked post above, it is possible some red-hatter will jump on to snarl MAGA-points in rebuttal. But converting someone? I don’t see it.
So how do we get beyond our choirs to potentially change a mind or push an undecided voter toward a smart decision? We’ve got to actually make contact. Get to them. Somehow we’ve got to put ourselves in situations where we have safe, manageable interactions with the non-choir set:
• Earlier in and throughout the campaign season, enthusiastic postcard parties were happening around the country. Groups would gather — with pre-printed postcards, assigned lists, pertinent scripts, and lots of stamps — to fill out cards for voters (in swing states particularly), encouraging them to register and vote. Those cards included bar codes, web addresses, and lots of positive messaging. I participated in several of those events over the months (and given my reliance on computers and a severe lack of strong handwriting muscles, my wrists can attest to the activity!). That effort has wrapped up at this close proximity to the election, but research has proven those cards do have impact, so remember it for the next go-around.
Actions that can be taken in the remaining days:
• Canvassing and phone banking. Many people are not only good at this, they’re enthused about doing it and very successful when they do. I frequently read posts about someone actually turning a voters around after calls or home visits, which is the hoped-for result. If that’s something you can and/or want to do, it’s a powerful way to make a difference and reach beyond your circle. There’ll be lots of it going on over this coming weekend … click HERE for an official volunteers’ link.
• Reach out to family and friends to make sure they’re voting and will get their ballots in on time. Obviously this takes tact and diplomacy; some people take umbrage at the reminder (especially from someone who might be on the other side of the aisle). Some resent any suggestion that they wouldn’t vote (“Of course I’m voting! Why would you think I wouldn’t?”). But still … I’ve also talked to people who aren’t as plugged into the “whole election thing” (as someone actually referred to it), and when I reminded them about their ballot, yelped, “Oh, my God … that’s right! I do need to do that!” I felt pretty responsible for that vote.
• Help people makes sense of their ballots. Ballots can be overwhelming no matter what aisle you’re on, and are often cited as the reason “I didn’t vote,” or “I just voted for the president.” I get it. There are so many propositions, school board folks, countless (and very important) judges, etc., it can be daunting. So, since that confusion can actually impact whether someone votes or not, and since not voting down the ballot neglects really important races that make a difference in all our lives, several years ago I started a tradition: Every election I sit down with my ballot and computer, all the ancillary booklets and voter guides, and create an “endorsement sheet” for family, friends, and whoever else may want it. Every candidate, every judge, every proposition; I cull through and make a detailed list (with links where possible) of who’s endorsing what and who. I include several endorsement sources (newspapers, political websites, local and state Democrat groups, ACLU, League of Women Voters, Sierra Club, etc.), all of which provides a solid basis upon which to make your own decisions.
Of course, my list is focused on the area that my ballot serves, but it also includes state and national items as well, and I’ve been informed it’s not only appreciated, but family members have started sharing the sheet with their own friends. Which is just fine with me … anything that helps voters make intelligent choices is a win-win. And voting blue down the ballot, especially when we’re hoping to win back the House and hold the Senate, is essential. There’s still time to do this for your own circle, so I hope you will.
• Lastly, offer transportation and ballot box drop-offs. A good way to make some headway with people outside your choir is to check around your neighborhood to see if anyone needs a ride to their polling place on election day. Or perhaps would appreciate you dropping their ballot in a ballot box. You may not get many takers from the non-choir folks, but it can be an inroad. Expand from there to family and friends. Be an election chauffeur, an election delivery person; a facilitator of any and all opportunities to make sure people and ballots get where they need to go.
I’m sure there are other suggestions and, frankly, you’re probably aware of and doing all these anyway (you are the choir, after all!). But I can’t sugarcoat the moment; it feels urgent, and I’d rather be redundant than condensed. This election is just four days away and it demands that we all do every single thing we can, say every single word we need to say, and take every single action that’s possible to save our beloved country. And that’s not hyperbole. You know it’s not.
Yes, I’m hopeful, I’m optimistic; some soothsayers have “soothed” some uplifting predictions and that’s great, but polls and predictions aren’t facts. They aren’t results. They’re guesses. Perhaps well-informed guesses in some cases, but still. The hard cold reality is that there has never been a more stark, disparate, black-or-white electoral decision than this one (just yesterday Trump suggested Liz Cheney should face a firing squad …). The last was certainly as urgent, but since then Trump has metastasized into a more fully-realized fascist, with Project 2025 itemizing his corrupt, regressive agenda, and a cabal of hate-and-fear mongering bigots and thugs to do his dirty work. It’s a dark, dystopic place, his America, one that will inflict so much pain and misery on so many it’s too hideous to imagine. That can’t be our future. It’s not an option. We won’t let it happen.
So this time around I’m not just going to suggest or recommend. I’m going to plead.
Plead with you — especially if you’re still undecided, or slightly decided but leaning right, or voting third party, writing in a protest vote, moderately convinced Trump is the Lord’s choice, or influenced by someone who actually thinks Trump is that choice. Or questioning whether a woman can do the job, or pondering how weird it might be to have a Black/East Indian woman in the Oval Office, or just haven’t filled out your ballot yet … any of that — I plead with you to observe and absorb the joy, hope, inclusion, and decency of the Harris/Walz ticket, study their plans and policies, their focus and aspirations (details HERE), then consider how all of that will uplift this country. Save democracy. Keep ethics and integrity at the table. Preserve our freedoms, rights, and human dignity, for us, for our children, for future generations.
I plead with you to do this, do what you can to convince non-choir folks in your circles to do this, then gather together in body or spirit and mark your ballots for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz.
I promise you, it’s the very best item on the menu.
